


Stargazing

by Felurian1



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Castiel and Dean Winchester in Love, Dean/Cas Reverse Bang, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Idiots in Love, Inspired by Art, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Making Out, Romance, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester being a little shit, Stargazing, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-22 21:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30045102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felurian1/pseuds/Felurian1
Summary: Dean could spend his whole life like this. Just him and Sam, and Cas, and the open road. The warm reflection of Baby’s lights bathed Cas’s face in flashes, and every one made Dean’s heart skip a beat.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43
Collections: Dean/Cas Reverse Bang 2021





	Stargazing

Dean could spend his whole life like this. Just him and Sam, and Cas, and the open road. The sky seemed to unfold in front of him like a dream, waiting to envelop him and keep him forever. These twilight hours did strange things to the horizon.

He glanced to his side, where Cas was sitting staring blankly out of the window. Dean could never quite be sure whether the angel was taking in the landscape, or somewhere else entirely. Listening to angel radio, maybe. 

The warm reflection of Baby’s lights bathed Cas’s face in flashes, and every one made Dean’s heart skip a beat. Something about the deep shadows of his face and the strong sure cut of Cas’s jaw made him feel like a teenager again, all secret glances and longing and uncertainty. Cas always made him a little wild, even when they had company.

With that thought in mind, Dean smiled to himself, and took a quick glance in the rearview mirror to make sure Sam was still asleep. Satisfied, he raised his arm onto the seatback and stretched out, fingertips reaching slowly towards Castiel’s trenchcoat.

“Dean?”

Cas hadn’t even moved his head and Dean startled, pulling his hand back towards himself in a hurry.

“What the hell dude, you scared the crap out of me!”, Dean hissed, flushing slightly.

“Sorry. Your thoughts were… very loud.”, Cas replied, still not looking over at him.

Dean shuffled uncomfortably in his seat while he figured out how to reply.

“You know, I think we talked about you listening in to my thoughts, Cas”

Cas did finally look over at that, his eyes dipping down the way they did whenever he was feeling guilty.

“I know. It’s just hard when you’re so… I mean… this car is very small”

Dean could only half stifle his chuckle at that. Even after a year Cas was still so awkward about expressing how he felt. Not that Dean could talk, of course. 

“Yeah well. Maybe we should stop for a bit. My eyes are getting tired and Sammy’s already out of it so. Wouldn’t do any harm to take a break”, Dean said quietly.

Cas nodded, and after a few miles Dean found a safe place to pull them over. With the lights out on Baby the darkness was absolute, only the moon and the scattered stars illuminating the night. The kind of dark he might be afraid of, if he wasn’t a hunter with an angel on his side.

“Should we wake Sam?”, Cas asked, the low rumble of his voice sounding suddenly loud with the engine silent.

Dean took a look into the backseat and shook his head. It had been hard enough lately to get Sam to sleep at all, let alone as deeply as he was now. He raised a finger to his lips, then eased the car door open, slid out silently, and had a small heart attack when he turned around to find Cas standing right behind him.

Dean holstered the gun he’d pulled before his brain caught up to the trenchcoat.

“You know one day, you’re gonna do that and I’m gonna stab you.”

“That’s unlikely Dean. You don’t carry an angel blade.”, Cas replied, completely deadpan.

Dean sighed inwardly and then shooed Cas towards the front of the car. He leaned back in, one eye on Sam the whole time, and carefully pulled two beers from the cooler. Satisfied that his brother was still fast asleep, Dean made his way round to join Cas, leaning against the hood of the car staring up at the night sky.

They clinked bottles, and for a while the quiet just settled between them. It almost felt like peace, being with Cas, not having to worry about Sam. Dean scooted closer, close enough to speak directly into Cas’s ear.

“You know Sam’s asleep, right?”

Dean could have sworn Cas stopped breathing for a moment, but then he turned to answer him. Dean became suddenly very aware of how close their lips were together like this. He stayed very, very still. Cas’s breath was hot against his mouth when he replied, and Dean noticed that the angel made no move to put distance between their bodies. The energy crackled between them, it has been there all day. His heartbeat sounded loud suddenly.

“Dean, I---”

Cas got two words out before Dean kissed him. It felt like finally breathing after holding it in for so long, like something was unlocked and beating inside him. Cas’s lips rough against his, words muffled by Dean’s tongue, his hand coming up to cradle Dean’s face like a blessing. Every time they kissed fireworks exploded in Dean’s mind. 

After a few moments Cas pulled away, a contented smile spreading across his face mirroring Dean’s own. He shuffled back again slightly, so to a casual eye they might have looked more like friends than lovers.

“--I was trying to say something , Dean”, Cas scolded softly, but he placed his hand over Dean’s so Dean knew he wasn’t serious.

“Yeah well, sometimes you gotta seize the opportunity. Carpe diem and all that. Besides, we’ve got this whole place to ourselves,” Dean said, gesturing widely at the road and the trees, “and you did say I needed a break.”

Cas just nodded at that, looking contemplative. Dean let him be for a while, content to sit and sip his beer and let his mind filter through their hunt, the case, everything with Sam. Everything with Cas. It wasn’t often that they had the space to just be, and sometimes Dean worried that it was catching up with them.

“You know Sammy, he thinks rest is over-rated. He was the same when he was a kid, always fidgeting to get somewhere. But what most people don’t realise,” and here Dean tapped his head for emphasis, “is that you do your best thinking when you aren’t thinking at all.”

Dean could see Cas smile at that, the little pull of his lips that he did when he was trying not to laugh. Dean always took that as a challenge.

“In fact,” he continued, “I’ve decided that’s my new motto. Think less, carp more!”

It was too much for Cas, who had unfortunately just taken a pull on his beer. He exploded in a mixture of laughter and coughing that had Dean cackling as he slapped his back. Not that choking could kill an angel, but still.

“You did that intentionally!”, Cas managed between bouts of coughing.

Dean just assumed his best innocent face and grinned.

“Don’t know what you mean Cas,” he said, waiting for a moment when it seemed like the angel had got his breath back, “but I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers!”

Which of course set off another bout of laughter and coughing and by the time Cas was settled again they were sitting much, much closer to each other and Dean’s arm had ended up around Cas’s waist. Not that that had been his objective, of course. Just a happy coincidence.

“So what’s up with you anyway? Angel radio playing up again?”

Cas shook his head and turned his face upward again.

“Look at the sky, Dean. What do you see?”

Dean looked, letting his eyes adjust to focus on the sweep of stars above them.

“Well I’ll be damned. Are we looking at shooting stars, Cas?”

Castiel smiled.

“What you humans call shooting stars. The dust left behind by the passage of a comet. These shooting stars were made by one your people call the Swift-Tuttle. It has another name, in Enochian. The nearest translation would be… The Unfulfilled Promise Of Fire.”

Dean wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that explanation, but it seemed important so he tried to follow along.

“So these shooting stars are like this Fire?”

“No. The comet is invisible to your human eyes. The shooting stars are simply the cloud of cosmic dust that surrounds it as it travels. Like the road grit spray behind your car.”

Dean nodded, still not quite understanding what Cas was getting at. The angel seemed to be talking in circles around something, and he only did that when it was something important.

“Okay. And this… this grit matters, somehow?”

Cas seemed to be hesitating about whether to answer, like he was in danger of giving up something secret. He fidgeted with his hands for a moment, then flashed a quick, guarded look at Dean’s face. Whatever he saw must have reassured him, because after a few more moments of consideration, he replied.

“I can see the comet, Dean. I can feel it’s path across the sky, the forces pulling it through space. I can feel its perfection and its loneliness. Every movement it makes is inevitable, and yet every time it passes near to this planet, humans are freshly amazed. As though this shower of space dust could bring them closer to grace.”

Dean squeezed Cas’s hand, trying without really knowing why to bring some warmth and comfort to the angel. Cas smiled, a little sadly, and took a long swallow of his beer.

“I was created,” he continued, “on the same day as this comet. I do not know why, and perhaps there is no meaning to it, but every year of my existence I have felt drawn to it.”

Dean’s jaw dropped.

“You mean to tell me you’ve been around as long as this space rock?”

Cas just nodded, his shoulders hunching a little like they did when he was worried about how Dean would react. 

“Wait. Cas. Is it your birthday?!”

Dean couldn’t believe he was asking that question, that he’d never thought about whether Cas had a birthday or not. He’d just always been here, in Dean’s mind. But Cas was trying to show him something, so perhaps…

“It is not of import.”

“No, Cas, wait,” Dean said, “It is. You’ve been thinking about this all day, haven’t you?”

Cas gave a tiny nod.

“Well then it matters. Cmon Cas, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to think I was strange”, Cas said, almost too low for Dean to hear him. “I thought, if you remembered what I am, how different we are, you might. You might not want this, any more.”

Dean could feel the tension radiating from Cas’s body. The angel had turned almost away from him, eyes cast down at the ground, his whole being closed off. Dean wanted more than anything to just pull Cas back around to him, show him that he didn’t need to be ashamed of this, whatever this was, but then again he didn’t want to hurt him. So he settled for what he knew.

Dean moved around to stand in front of Cas’s face, and then crouched down so he was directly in Cas’s eyeline. After a moment, Cas reluctantly lifted his eyes to meet Dean’s, and Dean was shocked to see them edged with unshed tears.

“Cas, you know how I feel about you,” Dean said, his voice rough with emotion, “and I don’t care how strange you are, okay? Hell, that’s half the reason I love you you stupid son of a bitch!”

“Insulting people is not how humans commonly express affection, Dean”, Cas said, but he looked a little less shaky than before.

“You know what I mean. Cas, it doesn’t matter to me whether you were born on the same day as a comet or the same day as Elvis, you’re still my angel, okay?”

Cas nodded, sniffing a little as he blinked away the tears.

“You gotta tell me this stuff dude,” Dean said beseechingly, “or I won’t know. No mind reading powers over here, remember?”

Cas nodded again and cracked a wavering smile.

“The shooting stars are how I know it’s my birthday, Dean”, he said, very solemnly.

“Well happy birthday Cas!”, Dean said, relief flooding him now he knew what Cas had been worrying about. “C’mere?”

Dean stood up, feeling his knees screaming in protest from the crouching position he’d been holding, but it was worth it. He pulled Cas up with him, tugging him into a tight embrace. He could feel Cas’s body shudder as he released the pent up tension he’d been holding, and Dean kept holding him until Cas was slack and relaxed in his arms.

“I didn’t get you anything,” he said softly into the back of Cas’s neck, and Cas pulled back to look Dean in the eyes.

“Dean, I have never shared my birthday with anyone. Before I was assigned to you, time was abstract. I was abstract. You made me real. Noone could ever give me more.”

Dean felt like his heart might burst, and he could feel his hand shake when he brought it up to Cas’s face. Gently, he traced the curve of Cas’s jaw, ran his thumb over his lips and back again to bury his hand in the deep scruff of Cas’s hair.

When Castiel’s wide eyes came up to meet his, Dean kissed him. Not the starved, urgent kiss from before, but gently. He kissed him to make him real, to anchor Cas so solidly in this moment that he could never doubt it again. Dean could feel every nerve in his body singing, every piece of his existence concentrated just on this, on the soft heat of Cas’s mouth and the hard press of his body. On the way he sighed into the kiss.

After an eternity, Dean pulled back, a soft smile covering his face. Cas looked almost dazed, his skin flushed red where Dean had touched him. 

“We are real, Cas”, Dean whispered, resting his hand on Cas’s chest as though he could press the words into his skin.

Cas didn’t respond, but his arms came up to encircle Dean, the two of them clinging together like it was just them in the whole wide world. Cas tipped his head up again and Dean took it for the invitation it was, deepening the kiss this time, pushing Cas back gently against the car until their bodies were pushed together, the heat growing as he mouthed a trail from Cas’s mouth around and down his neck.

Dean felt more than heard Cas whimper, his hips bucking just a little into Dean’s, and he was just pushing his shirt aside to slide his hands up onto that tight expanse of skin above his pants when somebody coughed.

And then coughed again, a little louder this time.

“Uhh guys, if you’re gonna make out in the woods, maybe do it away from the car?”

Dean closed his eyes, before deciding that it was probably excessive to shoot his little brother for interrupting them. With seemingly infinite patience, he raised his eyes from Cas’s face and glared in the direction of the voice.

“Sammy, what do you want?”

Sam stepped out from where he’d been leaning against the car door. How he’d managed to get there without Dean noticing he’d never know, though even he had to admit he’d been a little distracted.

“You were rocking the car”, Sam said, clearly trying to restrain himself from giving one of his patented Sam Winchester shit-eating grins, “and some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Trying to sleep? Gimme a break, you were out like a light.”

“Yeah I was, until you two clowns started hitting it on the hood of my bedroom!”

Cas slipped out of Dean’s arms to stand beside him, the angel looking a little sheepish in the face of Sam’s delighted teasing.

“Okay princess,” Dean said with a smirk, “we’ll get you to a proper bed.”

“Hey, it’s not me who needs one!”

Dean groaned at that. 

“Okay, okay. There’s a motel down the road, we’ll spend the night there. Happy?”

Sam nodded, backing off to clamber back into the backseat of the impala. Halfway there though, he paused.

“Why’d we stop, anyway? Thought we were trying to make it to Manning by daybreak?”

Dean shot Cas a questioning look, but the angel just gave him a nod so he didn’t bother trying to lie.

“Turns out, it’s Cas’s birthday. Figured we should have a beer and celebrate.”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up and he gave a baffled smile.

“Birthday?! Cas, you should’ve said something! We could’ve--”

“Yeah yeah, I already gave him the speech,” Dean said quickly, before Cas could get any more uncomfortable.

“Oh. Right. Well hey, maybe we could do something tomorrow? Better late than never, right Cas? What kind of cake do angels like anyway?”

“Sam. Shuddup and get back in the car?”

Sam grinned again, then folded himself back into the car and pulled the door closed behind him. Dean ran one hand over his face, muttering something to himself about little brothers and minding their own business, then turned back to Cas.

“You okay?”

Cas looked like he was stuck between annoyed and amused, but then he smiled.

“I suppose he does have a point. And besides, a motel would be convenient. Beds are so much more ergonomic for sexual activity, don’t you think?”

There was a howl of laughter from behind them, causing Dean to strongly reconsider his decision not to shoot Sam and be done with it.

“Yeah Cas, I think a motel would be nice. One with two rooms, and doors. Very thick doors with bolts on them.”

Dean tugged Cas back in for one more quick kiss, then stepped back round to the drivers side, pulling the keys from his pocket. With Cas firmly settled in the seat beside him, he turned the ignition and felt the car roar back into life, the headlights glaring bright and drowning out the forest dark.

Dean had just pulled back onto the road when Sam spoke up from the backseat.

“So Cas, will you be wearing your birthday suit?”

Delighted laughter filled the air as Dean shook his head, flipping Sam his middle finger, before stepping on the gas and driving them away.

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for the DeanCas Reverse Bang, with art by 7hunnyybunnyy7


End file.
